Officials: Existing laws on quacks lack teeth

When the officials zeroed in on Arun, an alleged quack who had treated a man, resulting in the latter’s death, they were surprised to realise he was arrested twice on earlier occasions. 

“The brazenness with which he had continued to practise shows how lightly such offences are dealt with. He has been practising both homeopathy and allopathy without qualifications,” said Dr N Rajendran, joint director of Medical and Rural Health Service, adding that there are over 100 suspected quacks in the Tiruvannamalai district. “As per existing legal provisions quackery is a bailable offence. We need stricter laws to weed out the rot,” the joint director said. Dr Rajendran also pointed out that another quack Anandi, who was arrested in August for running a sex selection racket, is now out on bail. 

An official from the Directorate of Public Health said that petitions by the victims of quacks can make cases against the accused stronger. He added, “There is already a committee that is considering the issue, especially after the hair transplant episode that led to the death of a man this year. But the public too should be proactive and help officials tackle the problem. If they are scared to lodge a complaint, they can call the 104-health helpline to alert the officials concerned.” 

An estimated 30,000 quacks are operating in Tamil Nadu, say officials of the Medical Council in the state. Dr P Balakrishnan, former president of the council, says that smart name boards, an idea mooted last year can prove effective to rein in on quackery in the state. “Rather than singling out unqualified practitioners, we must show the public who the qualified ones are. The smart name boards with QR code helps the public distinguish between the two categories,” he said. He added that the quacks are closely connected to politicians and local leaders and they strongly lobby for them.